Laser Spectroscopy of Neutron deficient Pd

by Sai Kumar, 1st year PhD student at GANIL

Palladium (Z=46), situated at the mid of g_9/2 shell, bridges the gap between two distinct nuclear regions. One being the collective behaviour dominated by Zirconium (Zr) and another is the single-particle character of Tin (Sn). This makes Pd an ideal candidate for nuclear structure studies.

 Measurements of nuclear properties in this region can be used to validate and benchmark the existing state-of-art nuclear models. Laser spectroscopy has proven to be an invaluable tool for probing the ground state  and isomeric level properties of isotopes in this region.  By measuring isotopic shifts and hyperfine parameters, mean square charge radii, magnetic dipole moments, and electric quadrupole moments of nuclei can be determined.

The most neutron deficient Pd isotope explored till now using laser spectroscopy is ⁹⁸Pd, 

close to N=50 magic number. The present study seeks to push beyond N=50 approaching the N=Z line.

Recent investigations into the variation of mean square charge radii along the neutron-deficient Ag isotopic chain have revealed a larger kink crossing N=50 compared to lighter isotopes [1]. These results challenge the existing nuclear models. This intriguing variation warrants similar scrutiny for Pd, given its proximity to Ag on the periodic table. Advances in modern Radioactive Ion Beam (RIB) facilities, such as GANIL and JYFL, provide opportunities to explore these exotic nuclei in depth.

In this presentation, the preparatory work for the experiment “Laser Spectroscopy of Neutron deficient Pd” will be discussed.

1. Reponen, M. et al. Evidence of a sudden increase in the nuclear size of proton-rich silver-96. Nat Commun 12, 4596 (2021).